By The River
by Katseester
Summary: A Quincy and Soul Reaper were never meant to be together; their paths should have never been intertwined.


**My god. It seems as if I recently died or something...**

**In any case, this has been on my computer for a while. I actually wrote it up around September/October for a friend who wanted a "dramatic break-up scene". Or perhaps it was me who insisted on writing a dramatic break-up scene for her. I also said I'd dedicate 5 or more stories to her for something she helped me with, but I can't remember what. And I haven't written a thing aside from this. I think it fails at the "dramatic" part, seeing as there's nothing particularly violent about it, or as my friend would say, "THERE'S NO RAPE AT THE END! WTF!!" but I like it nonetheless.**

**Warning that there's talk of Senna from _Bleach: Memories of Nobody_, so it might be a good idea to watch the movie. Even so, I recommend it. I've watched the movie about five times now, and I still get loads of enjoyment from watching it. Seriously, _go watch it_!  
**

* * *

Blinding sunlight. The orange, garish light burns his eyes, forces him to squint.

He never really liked sunsets.

The fading light illuminates the boy in the distance's body, throwing his pensive face into sharp contrast, casting shadows over his body like an overly enthusiastic artist would his painting. It gleams off of his glasses, turning the small, frameless windows into shards of light.

He's standing in front of the patch of land where Kurosaki Masaki was murdered.

Ishida Uryu turns his head, leaving half of his face in shadow.

Kurosaki Ichigo slows his pace as he nears this boy, intent on the act of uncaring aloofness, or perhaps just wishing to hit him.

"Why did you run?" The question hangs in the air, no one willing to answer it.

Finally, Uryu speaks.

"I've had time to think it over," he says in way of answer.

"We've only been apart for ten minutes, idiot." Vehemence enters Ichigo's voice.

"Ten minutes is plenty." The emotionless response is cutting.

They stand in silence for a few minutes more.

"And what have you been thinking?" He asks, not really wishing to know the answer.

"You and I…we're too different." Uryu turns to glance at him. "It's like the sun and the moon."

"How do you figure that?" Ichigo asks bluntly, uncomprehending.

"The two seem very close together during those few hours they hang in the sky together, some days," Uryu answers, "the sun doesn't even look much larger than the moon. But the cold reality is, no matter how similar in size they are, no matter how close they look, they're billions of light-years away from each other. Neither is destined to cross paths; they'll never be entwined with one another." He glances over again, glasses flashing. "Do you understand?"

"I'm afraid I don't," Ichigo replies. He shoves his hands deep into his pockets, and looks at the reflection of burning light on the river.

"Your father…already knows," Uryu says, still staring at the river.

"I know," Ichigo breathes. "You think I don't know that?"

"This is your fault," Uryu mutters, ignoring Ichigo completely.

Ichigo snaps his head to the right, looking at his impassive face.

"How is this _my_ fault?" He demands, almost shouting.

"If it hadn't been for your pure stupidity—"

"My stupidity."

"Yes, your stupidity!" Uryu is riled, deigning Ichigo a look of indignity. "You decided to jump off of the bridge, looking for a girl who couldn't have ever existed!"

"She…she existed. I know she did," Ichigo defends himself.

"No, she didn't. If she did, why is it that no one but you remembers her?" Uryu demands. "And even so, you claim that the only recollection you have is a gleaming, green circle in the middle of the river." He scoffs. "This girl, Senna, never existed."

"You're wrong," Ichigo mutters.

"That's beside the point," Uryu rebukes. "You were obviously delusional, jumping off of a bridge, chasing after a non-existent entity."

"I—"

"How on _earth_ did you manage to cut yourself, as well?" Uryu demands, leaving no room for argument.

"There was a broken piece of metal at the bottom of the river," Ichigo growls, anger building up inside of him.

Uryu scoffs again. "And I had to drag you out of the freezing water, or you'd have died."

"I already thanked you!" Ichigo almost shouts, turning to look at Uryuu's unemotional face again. He's met with a pair of dark eyes.

"Too generously," Uryu whispers, almost inaudibly, subdued once again.

A sudden memory of thin, shaking arms surrounding him, the feel of soft lips under his own, forces Ichigo to stare back at the river, away from that intense stare.

"My father only found out because of the blood," Ichigo mutters.

"Yes. If you hadn't been foolish enough to cut yourself, he would be oblivious to the whole ordeal."

"Shut up."

"My shirt was ruined, and it would hardly wash out of my hair," Uryu accuses.

"I said _shut up_!" Ichigo growls.

A slight breeze passes between the two boys.

"But the point remains," Uryu states after that moment of silence.

"And what's that?" Ichigo asks, still a little angry.

"You and I…we're too different. Too different to be intertwined in each others lives." He inhales deeply and exhales, watching the swirling cloud of condensation. "The Quincy and Soul Reaper…they're completely different, in every aspect of life. Our thinking is different, our strategies are different…it goes on. Every difference between the two just shows how unlikely the chances are of them ever getting along, in any way. The Quincy and Soul Reapers are too different to be together, ever. We should have never crossed paths."

"But we did," Ichigo says bluntly.

"And even so, we should have never been involved with one another after the crossing of our paths." Uryu looks over to Ichigo. "Do you understand now?"

"No, I don't," Ichigo replies vehemently. "All these things you're saying, how we're too different for things to work out, that's bullshit. We've proven that a Quincy and a Soul Reaper can get along perfectly fine—"

"You're wrong," Uryu cuts him off.

"How am I wrong?" Ichigo demands.

"You just are," Uryu answers cryptically. "A Quincy and a Soul Reaper can never cooperate peacefully."

"That's bullshit," Ichigo repeats, muttering.

"Say what you will. It's only the truth." Uryu looks away, back at the shining river.

"Don't be stupid," Ichigo says after a length of time. "Don't make a stupid decision that you'll regret later."

"I won't regret it," Uryu replies cuttingly. He turns once again to look Ichigo in the eye, but is met with rough hands, a feral snarl, and surprisingly soft lips.

He almost loses himself, almost responds, almost gives in to his wants.

Instead, he breaks away, pushing Ichigo back, and straightens his glasses.

"You seem to forget, Kurosaki," He says, his voice low and menacing, "I hate all Soul Reapers. _You_ are no exception."

And in the half-light of the sunset, his eyes appear to be the colour of jet. As he turns away, his glasses catch the last rays of the dying sun, flashing momentarily.

Ichigo is left in the quickly dying sunlight, beside the river, in front of the patch of land where his mother was brutally murdered.

He gazes at the river as the sun disappears behind the buildings, casting him into shadow.

* * *

**This story was set with a background all set out in my mind, what with Ichigo actually remembering Senna a bit only because he would seem to be able to, going to the bridge and jumping off, cutting his arm on metal (which is totally lame, I agree) and having Uryu save him (in which Ichigo get's blood all over Uryu's nice white school uniform shirt, even though it's the dead of night). And in all actuality, Ichigo and Uryu were only together for about a week afterwards. I'm serious. I _might_ write the prequel to it, and I might not. It all depends on how much time I have (and how much time I spend in front of the xbox 360 from now on, hah). Also, for my friend, at the end I added a sentance that ruined the whole piece about how Uryu disappeared and Grimmjow appeared the next day (gasp!), just for her enjoyment. And even with that, she still said it wasn't dramatic enough. Jerk.  
**

**Honestly, I have no idea how in the hell to spell Uryu's name. I started out with two u's at the end of his name, read a scanlation and saw that there was only one, changed it, watched the anime and saw that there were two, changed it again, read another scanlation and changed it to one, looked back on the manga and saw that there was one with a circonflex, said screw it and left it at one. But really, if _anyone_ knows how his name is _really_ spelled, it would be much appreciated to know. And totally awesome.**

**And I'm off again. No idea when I'll be back, either...**


End file.
